To the Editor:
After months of off and on again negotiations, executive meetings, about agreements on the sewer land donation, building of the sewer plant, drafting boundaries, tax abatements, and countless studies, final legal paperwork was completed and signed between Mayor Blancett and the Sanctuary owner on November 26, 2015. All well and good for you.
On December 31, 2015, I received three letters from the Village of Salado (should have only received two, since one was a duplicate) each containing, Response Form to Proposed Zoning/Rezoning, wanting me as a property owner to give my opinion to agree or disagree with the proposed zoning/rezoning of property of the Sanctuary. During the first of talks, don’t you think it would have been better at that time to send out these Response Forms to the property owners to get their opinions, instead of after the legal paperwork was completed and signed. This reminds me of an old saying, “Putting the Cart before the Horse”. I doubt our opinions will amount to much but I’m going to send mine back.
After all, as Hilary Clinton once said, “What does it matter”. The only difference here is, no life will be lost, only lifestyles changed.
Johnny Butler
To the Editor:
2016 a new year and continuing deer issue.I continue to hear discussions about “what are they going to do and when”? Nothing will be done until a deer count is done in August or September . This will be submitted to the Parks and Wildlife Department for evaluation. If they concur that Salado has a problem, they will issue a permit to harvest a certain number of deer. By that time, a committee will have made a recommendation to the City Alderman who will consider and evaluate the recommendation. They will likely propose an ordnance that will later be voted on.
Back on October 22, 2015 there was an Informal Town Hall meeting with experts that gave the City Officials and Salado citizens very good recommendations. The City Hall was packed with interested folks.
Mayor Blancett is in the early stages of appointing a committee to work on this project. If you are interested in serving on this committee, contact Mayor Blancett. The city has budgeted $10,000 for dealing with the Deer Issue. I would like to see a private fund set up for donations.
My interest in this project stems from years of outdoor activity. I am interested in the health and well being of this community. I am concerned about car crashes, injuries — deaths, lime disease, a decreasing health of our deer herd, chronic wasting disease and the destruction of our beautiful landscape–a costly situation. Just last month a 32 year old man was killed in an auto crash with a deer in Temple.
Dr. Amber Preston just advised me that she had a deer autopsied recently and was negative for wasting disease. She advised that anyone finding a dead deer report it to the City and it will be tested for this increasing problem just South of us.
I am open for any suggestions and I know Mayor Blancett would appreciate suggestions and volunteers!
Best regards
Lewis Raney, M.D.
To the Editor:
What is Justice? What is Fairness? I submit to all of you that justice and fairness may be in the eyes of the beholder but in our country our legal system has the final say.
My husband and I moved to Salado in 1993, four years before he retired from the US Army at Ft. Hood. Why did we move here from Killeen? Killeen was getting busier and busier and so we wanted to get away from the heavy traffic, from the congestion and the crime of that city. We found our dream house with the right location and all the peace, quiet, safety and Village charm we desired.
Do you recall when, and why, each of you first moved to Salado? Maybe you worked hard for 20 to 30 plus years to afford the home of your dreams? Maybe you moved here for the same reasons we moved here? Peace, quiet, safety, a nice golf course you could relax on …..a friendly charming Village full of folks who took pride in their history and heritage, a yearly Scottish Festival, antique car shows, bake sales, a town of great values and goals and full of volunteer spirit and helpfulness. Salado Village was your CHOSEN town. The house you bought, in the location you bought into, was PERFECT!
Now, fast forward in your mind 5, 10, 20, or more years later….. you look at what’s happening to your town. Your beautiful property on the dead end street, that once backed up to farm land, has now become a major thoroughfare for traffic. Following years of constant construction right behind your home, there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of cars, construction vehicles, fire engines, utility trucks, bicyclists, motorcyclists, motorhomes, traveling right through your yard, down your street past 30 other homeowners who also thought they had bought a home on a quiet dead end street. No longer can their children safely ride their bikes on that busy street, no longer can mothers safely push their babies in carriages by friendly neighbor’s houses without fear of getting run over by cars, trucks and emergency vehicles racing to the development of hundreds
Now picture that your home is in another peaceful one street neighborhood in our Village. A new development is coming to town. There will be three hotels, a 2500 seat music venue, a band shell for outdoor music, four or five drive through restaurants, a strip center, apartments, homes etc., etc. The Village says we MUST change zoning, even in existing Village areas zoned residential AND Historic District (HD) where drive through restaurants and/or gas stations are currently NOT permitted, in order to accommodate the owner’s desire to put those type businesses there. If we do not agree to change this zoning, we are told the Village will be sued by the owner because the already signed agreements say that we must provide that zoning. Also, the Village says there MUST be a sewer line in your yard, or down your street or neighborhood,that will accommodate all that commercial business. Imagine the amount of commercial sewage that will flow through your yard or neighborhood and the possibility of sewage seeping into the ground, as is normal for most sewer systems. Can you picture the manholes, and can you imagine the smell and clean out efforts that will be necessary to maintain those lines through the years? Can you picture future possible sewage spills which all sewer systems have at one point for another? Would you have bought your residential property and poured your life’s savings into that investment had you known this would be the fate of your efforts?
Then your Village tells you that you have to move from your home because the developer needs your property for a parking lot, or a street, and that it’s a higher and better use of your property. You disagree but the Village has the STATUTORY AUTHORITY to take your property for economic development purposes and they say they are making you a “fair” offer and that you will be evicted if you do not sign the property over to them. You can pay thousands and thousands of dollars fighting the town in court but the law is on the side of the town who says it needs your property for “economic development”. And besides, the Village’s agreement with the owner of the development says if he needs a property, the town must obtain it for the sake of his, and the town’s, economic development and he will repay town for that cost.
The question is, what’s the value of your property? If you believe the value is different than the town’s offer, you must then pay thousands and thousands of dollars in survey, appraisal and legal fees to defend that value in court. You are now at war with your own elected officials….the very people you trusted to protect your home, are now taking your property.
How did it come down to this? Either the officials didn’t read the agreements, or they read them but didn’t understand the agreements, or they were given very bad advice by the town’s attorneys or others they trusted to provide them with the truth prior to agreeing to sign those agreements. And now the people in the town are upset, disillusioned, heartbroken and beaten down. The charming, caring Village we all moved to is no longer. It’s now ALL ABOUT MONEY.
May God guide each of our elected officials in their decisions.
Darlene Walsh
Salado Sewer
Committee
Citizen Member
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